Jamie Dimon Disses Goldman Sachs

Lots of people have been talking about how Goldman Sachs stock offering and plans to pay back its TARP funding would put pressure on other large financial firms to follow suit. On this morning's earnings call, JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon made it very clear he doesn't feel he needs to follow Goldman's example.

Not rushing to pay back the TARP. Dimon said that JP Morgan would do what was best for the country and its shareholders, and would “await the results of the stress test and guidance from the government and see what happens” rather than rushing to pay it back like Goldman.

We don't need new capital. Goldman got a lot of credit for raising new capital. Dimon, however, implied that this is a sign of weakness, not strength. “I don’t see why a company with that kind of capital would have to raise capital…we could raise it, and I, you know, what Goldman did is what Goldman did. It has nothing to do with us.”

In short, Goldman's rush to show strength resulted in diluting shareholders, something Dimon is indicating he doesn't feel JP Morgan will need to do. Also, Dimon sounded as if he was accusing Goldman of not being good corporate citizens, something that was obviously meant to tweak Goldman's sense of itself as one of the most civic minded investment houses.